London 2007

As you may know, we took another trip to visit the family for the holidays this past year. We left on Christmas Day (which to commencerate last year, there was a nice snow storm that ushered us out) and arrived bright and early on the 26th. We visited Camden Town which had quaint little mom and pop shops and a few other shopping areas around London. Mom, Ashton and Brooke went to see Wicked... which was FABULOUS! We had fish and chips and lots of laughs. We were able to take in a church service at the Hillsong London church... definately makes you wish you had a great church in your city to attend.

We decided to take a trip out to one of the last stops on the tube one night... as if we had nothing else to do! It was a nice little town called... Cockfosters. Yes, you read that right. We visited the Temple Church (in The Da Vinci Code) After it was all over, our adventure to London was well worth the trek... more to come.

Adventure New York City, 2007

It seems that we have made quite a few trips to NYC since this blog was started 2 years ago. Obviously, it is a favorite vacation spot for both of us. This year, however, we were there originally for a different purpose other than just to hang out. David had made it into the NYC marathon lottery and we were going to run it. After the Chicago ordeal back in October, we decided to wait for next year. So...get your training shoes on 'cause next time.... we're there for the REAL deal!

We did have a great time this year. We stayed out by Laguardia (not fully recommended) as the hotels in Manhattan were insanely expensive. So we are very familiar now with the bus, subway and train system in NYC. Seems to be a common theme anymore, huh?!

As for any trip we go on anymore to the city, Chelesa Market was a definate must. Fresh fruit, some new wine to try and yummy pasteries. I'll attach the new picture from there once that roll is developed (didn't use the digital that time... bummer). We took the train down to Coney Island and ate at Nathan's hot dog stand. I don't think Coney Island is doing too hot anymore. We checked out China town, but unlike San Fran, this China town is like being IN China. This one wasn't as cool as San Fran. David did get his pretzel from a street vendor and his chicken on a stick. Pashmina's are back in style and all the vendors were selling pashmina's and cashmere scarfs. Of course I had to get some scarfs!

Our friends Kyle and Kenya came up for this trip as well. We dominated Times Square and Central Park with them! Kenya and David had a bet to see who could get the most pictures taken with a cop. As you can see, David tried his hardest. Yes, he is trying to kiss Kenya in the medical picture. And of course, for David's one birthday wish, he wanted Kyle to eat some White Castle with him. So we found White Castle and they grubbed down. About 2 hours later they were not so happy they grubbed down.

We went and saw the Grinch on Broadway. It was great and got us in the mood for Christmas! Apparently this weekend all the stage workers went on strike, so the show didn't even play.

Cupcakes are all the rage in New York these days. Weird, right?! Oliver and Isabel met us for dinner one night and they took us to Magnolia's for cupcakes. You wait in a line, outside, for about 20 minutes and then you rush in, grab a random box and fill it with cupcakes. It's all over the city like this. And we are in agreement... they are not that good.

We did watch the run, and it's definately gotten us pumped for next year! Are you ready to go too?!

Adventure to the Garden of the Gods!

We decided to go see the beauty of Colorado before it got too cold a few weekends back. So we thought instead of driving for 2 hours up into the mountains, just head down to Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods! The weather was perfect. We hiked and met some nice people from NJ. We also saw some people rock climbing the red rock walls.

We then took our car to a nice picnic spot and ate some cheese and bread and fed chocolate covered espresso beans to our new Blue Bird friend. He was pretty excited about the treats.

It was a fun trip and we'll probably do it again soon. Let us know if you're up to the adventure!

Chicago marathon..quite the joke!

We had a great time in Chicago... went shopping down Michigan Avenue, drove down Cicero Avenue, hung out with dear friends, rode the L to downtown chicago, and tried to run the 2007 LaSalle Marathon. Key word here, tried. It was 90 degrees on Sunday and the humidity was extremely high. Let's just say we cooked the 14 1/2 miles we actually got through. There was no water at the aide stations, we had to buy our own. Finally we made a decision to stop running the race as it was just getting hotter and without water stations we could depend on, I figured it was a bad idea. Right about then, the race officials called off the race. We did meet some great people along the way, and David stopped at mile 13 for his frappecino from Starbucks. They were overly extatic that a partner was running the race and had stopped in for a drink! I doubt we'll go back next year (unless the entry fee is waived) for the race, but we'll definately go back to see our friends!

PS. David did find SuperDawg, at Midway airport, and had a yummy hotdog.

Labor Day Adventure-San Francisco

Sorry it's been a few months... the summer has kept us busy! We had a great idea to head out to the West Coast this past holiday and take some much needed R & R in the fun city of San Fran. We stayed in Union Square and were in the best shopping district. Along with the multitude of trolley car rides (buying the 3 day transportation pass was well worth the money!) and bus routes (getting lost as usual) we walked through the hilly streets of San Fran and had marvelous time. The highlights of the trip had to include the markets in China Town- "Ooohh.. that look very lovely" when trying on kimonos, seeing all the open tea leaf bins and wondering how on earth could anyone pay over $200 a pound? for tea? We ate lots of fresh seafood, hung out at Pier 39 and saw all the crazy sea lions, viewed Alcatrez (but were not able to get tickets as they were all sold out for the weekend) and shopped, shopped and shopped. We didn't come home with much, but had a great time looking and hanging out. We went to the best farmer's market at the Ferry Building at the end of Fisherman's Wharf...what fun was the free public bathroom that sanitized itself after each use? Wow.

We stayed at the Hotel Nikko which had a Starbuck's in the lobby. I was in heaven. We went to Ghirerdeli Square to see the Chocolate factory, and I must admit, I was quite bummed when I realized there was no factory. Here I was thinking it was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and you just got the best tour of all this delicious chocolate. Nope. Nada.

We rode the trolley cars as much as we could and had the BEST time on them! Someday I hope to ride one with no-one around and just let it go flying down the streets. That would be the best trip ever.

This was by far one of the best trips we've taken thus far. Lots to see and do, yet relaxing enough that we felt like we didn't need a vacation from our vacation! San Fran... we will be back.

Waterton Canyon

To add to our hiking adventures so far this past year we went to Waterton Canyon last weekend. It's pretty...but DEFINATELY more of a biking trail than a walking trail. So next time we'll take our bikes.

Roxborough Park

We decided this was the summer of enjoying the outdoors and trying new things! So our first attempt was this past weekend at Roxborough Park. What gorgeous red rocks! Who knew that was so close to our house? We did about a 4 mile hike ending at about 6500 ft elevation. We heard a rattle snake in the trees shaking his tail... kinda freaky, but so long as he doesn't come out we'll be okay! They see mountain lines, bears and rattle snakes pretty frequently at this park. We ran into these 2 deer just hanging out by the road...I'm sure we'll be back very soon!